Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Challenges Relating to the Delivery of Housing: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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It is certain that the LDA will not be coming into County Galway because our largest town has just 9,000 people. That is unfortunate. The largest number of children on the homelessness list in the entire country is in County Galway. That is unfortunate because I have listened to what Mr. Coleman has said and thee LDA is making great progress in Galway city but unfortunately we do not feel that love out in the county. That is maybe something that can be reviewed.

I welcome what happened on the Dundrum site, where the LDA had made progress on housing for people with additional needs. What was achieved there is a really good template. Would the LDA be open to sharing that development with all the other local authorities because I know it was painful to get it done? I will not pick up on Mr. McGuane's comment that housing is a lottery but the parents of people with additional needs, who are born with a congenital condition and are growing old, want to know there is a plan in place. That is where the LDA can play a huge part in ensuring we can ring-fence properties during planning to ensure the skill set is within the disability provider to make it available because sometimes it is not.

Will the LDA look at doing that and supporting all the other local authorities? Could the agency think about County Galway and coming out to visit us regarding development?